


False Promises

by tsundo



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, M/M, there's no happy ending for this tbh its just introspection on shockwave during the war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28338027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsundo/pseuds/tsundo
Summary: "I'll kill you.""That is the 29th time you've said that to me. And every time, you never followed through with it."
Relationships: Optimus Prime/Shockwave
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	False Promises

How many times have they done this?

This dance, going back and forth. These encounters. It was almost like he was purposely seeking them out. Perhaps he was. Perhaps he was searching for some semblance of their former self within them. And every time it was the same thing, the same disappointment. Surely he’d give up. After all, these encounters only left a sour feeling in their EM field, not having the luxury to possess a glossa or a helm at that to taste anything. It was: Inefficient. Unnecessary. A waste of time.

“I’ll kill you,” they threatened coldly. 

“29. That is the 29th time you’ve said that to me.” He’s been keeping count. Why? Why has he been keeping count? “And every time, you never followed through with it.” Hope. Such an inefficient feeling. How long was he going to keep this up? Before he realised how inconvenient. How  _ hopeless _ it really was.

“Your point being...” they replied. 

“Shockwave,” he called out, gaining their full attention. “Why is it that every time. Every time we see each other, across the battlefield, alone on scouting missions. On encounters such as this, do you fail to kill me?” Their crimson optic stared at him for a moment, unblinking, unwavering.

“That is the 20th time you have used those words on me,” Shockwave replied. “Do all your attempts end up being recycled. As if repetition would do anything, Optimus?”

“It certainly hasn’t done anything for you,” Optimus replied back. A Shockwave from a different era would have laughed at that response. But Shockwave was no longer that individual. They simply stared at him. 

“Why do you seek me out. Why do you torture yourself,” they then asked. They didn’t notice their cannon arm trembling, filials leaned back.

“Is it not normal to try and see an old friend?” he asked. An old friend was an understatement. Shockwave fully knew the bond they and Optimus had in the past. How Optimus desperately grasped for it even now during the war.  _ 2 million years in _ . It would have destroyed any other person if they were forced to wait for so long for someone who didn’t have the ability to reciprocate. 

Love was such an... irrational, annoying thing. 

And Optimus was a stubborn, stubborn mech.

“Not when it’s a war. When we’re on opposite sides. When  _ you  _ are the leader of my enemies,” they replied. “Coming out here is suicide yet you risk it all for someone insignificant as me.” There it was. That urge to get back to work. To get this all done and over with so they could actually spend time on something meaningful.

“You aren’t insignificant,” he replied in exasperation. “Shockwave-”

“I have to get back to my work, Optimus. Don’t expect our next encounter to be long,” they said, lowering their cannon. As if they were going to shoot him point blank. No, they’ve tried. And every attempt they would fail to remotely warm up their cannon. It was an annoying glitch in their programming that Shockwave had attempted to remedy many times. But it was much more difficult than expected. Eventually they had left it alone, not wanting to waste any more time on it. 

It was an inefficient dance between the two that amounted to nothing for either of them. 

So why did they miss it? 


End file.
